Canadian company seeks US permission to start deep-sea mining as outcry ensues WSOC TV [Video]

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — (AP) — An abrupt announcement rattled members of a little-known U.N. agency based in Jamaica that has protected international deep-sea waters for more than 30 years.

The Metals Company in Vancouver, Canada said late Thursday that it is seeking permission from the U.S. government to start deep-sea mining in international waters, potentially bypassing the International Seabed Authority, which has the power to authorize exploitation permits but has yet to do so.

“It would be a major breach of international law…if the U.S. were to grant it,” said Duncan Currie, an international and environmental lawyer and legal adviser to the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, a Netherlands-based alliance of environmental groups.

The Metals Company seeks seafloor minerals like cobalt, copper, nickel and manganese used in electric car batteries and other green technology.

The announcement was made just hours before the 36-member council of the International Seabed Authority met in Jamaica on Friday, the last …